Spielberg’s Big TV Plans: Sci-Fi on NBC, Dinosaurs on FOX

It seems like Steven Spielberg can’t get enough of the small screen this week. We couldn’t be happier.

Today, The Hollywood Reporter announced that NBC has its eyes set for Spielberg’s Nine Lives, a project that lost steam for Syfy in 2007. The would-be miniseries looks to be on again as NBC does bit of sci-fi shopping of its own. Does this mean NBC execs are finally ready to ditch Heroes? Let’s hope so.

The show, which deals in reunions with lost loved ones through near-death experiences, was penned by Les Bohem, who worked with Spielberg previously on the Emmy award-winning miniseries Taken in 2002. THR says that NBC won’t make a final decision until reviewing a recent draft of the show, which Spielberg is set to executive produce.

Meanwhile at FOX, Spielberg is talking dinosaurs. Variety reported that for the first time since Jurassic Park, the director is attached to a prehistoric plot line. The show, Terra Nova, follows a family who time travels back to the age of dinosaurs, and we can only imagine, chaos and T-Rex chases ensue. Variety says FOX is close to making the show a direct-to-series because of the high costs of shutting down production between filming a pilot and regular series episodes.

We’ll just hope that this can survive FOX’s Henry Vlll approach to sci-fi TV.